The Dock and the Scaffold Part 4

In the course of the trial, which was had before Chief Baron Pigot and Mr. Justice Keogh, in the Commission Court, Dublin, Colonel Warren offered some few remarks on the evidence, and put some questions to the witnesses, all of which showed considerable ac.u.men on his part, and were thoroughly _ad rem_. He complained particularly of the manner in which his identification was obtained. Gallagher, who had piloted the "Erin's Hope" around the west coast of Ireland, swore to his ident.i.ty as one of the party who were on board; but the prisoner contended that Gallagher's knowledge of him was acquired, not on board that vessel, but in Kilmainham gaol, where Gallagher had been his fellow-prisoner for some weeks, during which time he had abundant opportunities of learning his, Colonel Warren's, name, and the charge against him. But it was a vain thing, as far as the jury were concerned, to indulge in such criticisms of the evidence. There were times in Irish and in English history, when juries could rise above the panic of the hour, and refuse to minister to the pa.s.sion of the government, but we have fallen upon other times, and, now-a-days, to be accused of a political crime means to be convicted.

A verdict of "guilty" against Colonel Warren was returned as a matter of course. On Sat.u.r.day, November the 16th, he, with two other prisoners, was brought up for sentence. On the usual interrogatory being put to him, the following proceedings took place:--

I claim the privilege established by precedent. I have had no opportunity of making any remarks on my case, and I would now wish to say a few words.

THE CHIEF BARON--Just state what you have to say; we are ready to hear you.

WARREN--I desire, in the first place, to explain, while ignoring the jurisdiction of this court to sentence me, and while a.s.suming my original position, my reasons for interfering in this case at all. I can see beyond my present position, the importance of this case, and I was desirous to instruct the jury, either directly or indirectly, of the importance of their decision, while never for a moment deviating from the position which I a.s.sumed. I submit that I effectually did that. They incautiously, and foolishly for themselves and the country of which they claim to be subjects, have raised an issue which has to be settled by a higher tribunal than this court.

PRISONER--I propose to show that the verdict is contrary to evidence.

THE CHIEF BARON--I must again tell you that you are not at liberty to do that.

PRISONER--I propose to answer briefly the question why the sentence of the court should not be p.r.o.nounced upon me. Do I understand you to refuse me that privilege?

THE CHIEF BARON--Certainly not; but I am bound in point of law to refuse to hear you upon any matter respecting the verdict.

We are bound by that verdict just as much as you are. That is the law.

PRISONER--What position do I stand in now, my lord? I have been indicted with a number of parties, one of whom had been identified in America. I have been tried and convicted. What position do I stand in now? Am I convicted on the evidence of Corydon, who swears that I belonged to the Fenian Brotherhood in 1863? Does that prove that I belonged to it in 1867?

The Chief Baron then explained that what he left to the jury was, that if they believed upon the evidence that on the 5th of March the prisoner belonged to the Fenian confederacy, having for its object the deposition of the Queen, he would be answerable for the acts done by his confederates, whether he was present or absent at the time.

PRISONER--You instructed the jury, at the same time, that the fact of my holding the position of a colonel in '63 was sufficient corroboration of the evidence that I belonged to it in 1867.

THE CHIEF BARON--I told the jury that holding the rank of colonel was evidence for their consideration, upon which to determine whether you previously belonged to the Fenian confederacy. I told them they were at liberty to consider whether you would have got that rank if you then joined for the first time.

PRISONER--Precisely the same thing, but in different phraseology. Am I to understand that I have not liberty to address the court as to why sentence should not be p.r.o.nounced upon me?

THE CHIEF BARON--You are not so to consider. You are at liberty to address the court, but you are not at liberty to comment upon the evidence to show that the verdict was wrong.

PRISONER--What can I speak on? To what can I speak, if not to something connected with my case? I am not here to refer to a church matter or any political question.

THE CHIEF BARON--I have informed you what we are bound to rule.

PRISONER--Then I state, my lord, that as an American citizen, I protest against the whole jurisdiction of this court, from the commencement of my arraignment down to the end of my trial. I protest against being brought here forcibly, and against my being convicted on the evidence of a man whom you yourselves designated a man of the most odious character.

You instructed the jury pointedly on one occasion, and subsequently you said that no respectable jury could act on his evidence, and that it was a calamity for any government, to have to resort to the evidence of such a man. I do not wish to say anything disrespectful to this eourt, but I think I may say that if I stand here as a convicted felon, the privilege should be accorded to me that has been accorded to every other person who stood here before me in a similar position. There is a portion of the trial to which I particularly wish to refer. That is, in reference to the oath which it was stated the pilot was forced to take on board the vessel. Much importance was attached to this matter, and therefore I wish to ask you and others in this court to look and to inquire if there is any man here who could suppose that I am scoundrel enough and ignorant enough to take an ignorant man, put a pistol to his face, and force him to take an oath I ask you, in the first place, not to believe that I am such a scoundrel, and in the second that I am not such an idiot. If I were at this moment going to my grave, I could say that I never saw that man Gallagher till I saw him in Kilmainham prison. These men, although they have been, day after day, studying lessons under able masters, contradicted each other on the trial, and have been perjuring themselves. Gallagher, in his evidence, swore that his first and second informations were false, and that he knew them to be false. It is contrary to all precedent to convict a man on the evidence of a witness who admits that he swore what was false. In America I have seen judges, hundreds of times, sentencing men who were taken off the table, put into the dock, and sent to prison. In this case, this poor, ignorant man was brought into Kilmainham gaol on the 1st of July. He knew my name, heard it called several times, knew of the act of which I was suspected, and, on the 2nd of August he was taken away. On the 12th of October he is brought back, and out of a party of forty or fifty he identifies only three. If that man came on board the vessel, he did so in his ordinary capacity as a pilot. He did his duty, got his pay, and left. His subsequent evidence was additions. With respect to the vessel, I submit that there was not a shadow of evidence to prove that there was any intention of a hostile landing, and that the evidence as to the ident.i.ty of the vessel would not stand for a moment where either law or justice would be regarded. Now, as to the Flying Dutchman which it is said appeared on the coast of Sligo and on the coast of Dungarvan, in Gallagher's information nothing is said about the dimensions of the vessel. Neither length, breadth, or tonnage is given, but in making his second information he revised the first.

The prisoner then proceeded to argue that there was nothing to show that the vessel which had appeared in Sligo harbour was the same with that which had appeared off Dungarvan, except the testimony of the informer, Buckley, of which there was no corroboration. He also denied the truth of Corydon's evidence, in several particulars, and then went on to say--

As to the position in which I am now placed by British law, I have to repeat that I am an American citizen, and owe allegiance to the government of the United States. I am a soldier, and have belonged to the National Militia of America.

Now, if war had broken out between the two countries, and that I had been taken prisoner, the English government, according to English law, would hold me guilty of high treason. I would not be treated as an ordinary prisoner of war, but would be liable to be strung up at the yard arm. See then the position of England towards the United States. The Crown should not be in such haste to act thus. It was hardly a judicious policy.

Andrew Johnson was the grandson of an Irishman; Mr. Seward was the son of an Irishwoman; General Jackson was the son of an Irishman; General Washington and Benjamin Franklin lived and died British subjects, if this law be correct. There is another point to which I wish to refer--it is to the manner in which my government has acted in this matter--

THE CHIEF BARON--We cannot allow you to enter into remarks on the conduct of any government. We have simply to sit here to administer the law which we are called upon to discharge.

THE PRISONER--I wish simply to call your attention to one point. On the 3rd of August I wrote to my government--

THE CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to refer to that.

THE PRISONER--The President of the United States, on a report submitted to him--

THE CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to proceed with any reference to what has been done by any government. We have nothing to do with the conduct of any government We are only here to administer the law which we are sworn to administer.

THE PRISONER--I was simply going to state that while the vile officials of your government--.

THE CHIEF BARON--We have nothing to do with the conduct of any government. We are here to dispense justice according to law, and whatever the officials of our government or of the American government have done cannot have the slightest influence upon our judgment. It can neither affect us favourably or unfavourably to the prisoner or to the Crown. We stand indifferently between both.

THE PRISONER--I beg simply to call your lordship's attention to the correspondence--

THE CHIEF BARON--We cannot allow you to do so. We cannot allow you to refer to the correspondence between the officials of one government and the officials of another.

THE PRISONER--If America does not resent England's conduct towards me, and protect that allegiance to her government which I proudly own is the only allegiance I ever acknowledged, I shall call on thirteen millions of Irishmen--

THE CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to use the position in which you stand there as the arena for those observations.

PRISONER--I must then state, in conclusion, that while I protest against the jurisdiction, I am confident that the position which I take will be sustained. I know that the verdict of the jury will be reversed, and while returning you, my lord, thanks for your kindness during the trial, I must say you have taken from me the privilege I am ent.i.tled to get. I am sure that I shall live longer than the British Const.i.tution.

AUGUSTINE E. COSTELLO.

After the verdict had been returned against Colonel Warren, Augustine E. Costello was put on his trial, charged with the same offence--that of having formed cne of the invading party who landed from the "Erin's Hope," in the neighbourhood of Dungarvan. He, too, was an adopted citizen of the United States, and he declared that he was anxious to follow the course that had been taken by his friend, Colonel Warren, in reference to his trial; but, deferring to the strongly-expressed wish of his counsel, he would leave his case in their hands. An able defence was made for him by Messrs. Heron and Molloy, Q.C., instructed by Mr. Scallan, Solicitor; but it was all in vain. When he was called on to say why sentence should not be p.r.o.nounced on him, he delivered the following address in a loud tone of voice, his fresh young face glowing with emotion as he spoke, and his manner showing deep excitement, but withal a fearless and n.o.ble spirit:--

In answer to the question put to me by the Clerk of the Court, I will speak a few words. I don't intend to say much, and I will trespa.s.s on foibidden ground but as little as possible.

I am perfectly satisfied that there has not been one fact established or proved that would justify a conscientious and impartial jury in finding me guilty of treason-felony. There is an extreme paucity of evidence against me;--that everyone who has been here while this case has been proceeded with will admit frankly and candidly. We need no stronger proof of this fact than that the first jury that was empanelled to try me had, after a long and patient hearing of the case, to be discharged without having found me guilty of treason-felony.

Ah! there were a few honest men on that jury. They knew that Augustine E. Costello was not guilty of the crime trumped up against him. They knew I was not guilty. Mr. Anderson, sitting there, knows that I am not a felon, but that I am an honest man; that as such I stand here in this dock, where Robert Emmett stood, where Robert Emmett spoke from; and the actions and the words of that Emmett have immortalized him, and he now lies embalmed in the hearts of the world.

The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to proceed in that strain.

COSTELLO--I can say to those a.s.sembled here, and who are now listening to me, that I stand here, branded, as I am, a felon, but with a clear conscience. No one can point the finger of scorn against me, and say I have sold my brother and committed perjury. Can every man in this court house lay his hand on his heart and say the same? Answer me, Mr. Anderson. Answer me, Governor Price.

The LORD CHIEF BARON--You are again transgressing. You had better stop for a moment or two; you seem to be excited.

COSTELLO--My lord, as you truly remark. I have allowed my feelings to run away with my discretion; but it is hard for a man to stand here, satisfied as I am of innocence, knowing full well that I have committed no wrong; it is hard for a man in the bloom of youth, when the world looks fair and prosperous to him--when all he loves is in that world--it is hard that a man should be torn from it, and incarcerated in a living tomb. My lords, I am an humble individual; I claim no rights but the rights that emanated from a G.o.dhead--the rights that were given to me at the hour of my birth. That right is my inalienable liberty, and that no government, no people, has a right to take from me. I am perfectly satisfied to stand before a British tribunal to answer for acts or words of mine, if I break any of the laws of the country; but, my lords, you must admit that I have transgressed no law. His lordship, Judge Keogh--I must now candidly admit that I have heard a great deal about that gentle nan that was not at all complimentary to him--but I say for myself that his lordship, Judge Keogh has dealt with me in the fairest manner he could have done. I have nothing to say against the administration of the law, as laid down by you; but I say a people who boast of their freedom--hold up their magnanimous doings to the world for approval and praise--I say those people are the veriest slaves in existence to allow laws to exist for a moment which deprive a man of liberty.

The LORD CHIEF BARON--It is impossible for a Court administering the law, to allow you to speak in such terms against such law.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Augustine E. Costello.]

COSTELLO--I speak under correction, my lord. You must, if you please, be a.s.sured that I do not attribute any wrong to your lordships--far be it from me; I acknowledge and again reiterate that. So far as the law is concerned, I have had a dose that has almost killed me; but if there was a little--a very little--justice mixed in that law, I would not be now addressing your lordships. Of the law I have had sufficient, but I have come to the conclusion that justice is not to be found inside a British courthouse. My lords, I complain, and grievously, of what my friend Colonel Warren and my friend General Halpin complained of--of being tried in this Court as a British subject; and I think your lordships will not reprimand me much for that expression. I left the sh.o.r.es of my native land--Ireland is the land of my birth, and I am proud to own it. I am proud to say that I am an Irishman, but I am also proud and happy to state that I am an adopted citizen of the United States; and while true to the land of my birth, I can never be false to the land of my adoption. That is not an original phrase, but it expresses the idea which I mean to convey. Now, my lords, my learned and very able counsel, who have conducted my case with the greatest ability and zeal, and of whom I cannot speak in terms of sufficient praise, demanded for me a jury half alien. I was refased it. I was born in this country, and I was, while breath remained in my body, a British subject. In G.o.d's name--if I may mention His holy name without sufficient reasons--what affection should I have for England? You cannot stamp out the instincts that are in the breast of man--man will be man to the end of time--the very worm you tread upon will turn upon your feet. If I remained in this country till I descended to the grave, I would remain in obscurity and poverty. I left Ireland, not because I disliked the country--I love Ireland as I lovs myself--I left Ireland for the very good and cogent reason that I could not live in Ireland. But why could I not live here? I must not say; that would be trespa.s.sing. I must not mention why I was forced to leave Ireland--why I am now placed in this dock. Think you, my lords, that I would injure a living being--that I would, of my own free accord, willingly touch a hair upon the head of any man? No, my lords; far would it be from me; but that government which has left our people in misery--

The LORD CHIEF BARON--I cannot allow you to trespa.s.s on political grievances.

COSTELLO--I am afraid I am occupying the time of the court too much, but really a man placed in such a position as I now occupy, finds it necessary to make a few observations. I know it savours of a great deal that is bad and foul to be mixed up with Fenian rebels, a.s.sa.s.sins, and cut-throats. It is very bad; it is not a very good recommendation for a young man. Even were that fact proved home to me--that I were a Fenian--no act of mine has ever thrown dishonour on the name.

I know not what Fenian means. I am an Irishman, and that is all-sufficient.

The prisoner then proceeded to criticise the evidence against him at considerable length. He declared emphatically that one of the doc.u.ments sworn to be in his handwriting was not written by him. He thus continued:--